In their Jan. 13 special runoff election, Dillon Travis and Mike Waters present House District 35 Republican voters with a classic choice between a familiar face or a new generation, as both candidates have made protecting rural interests the main point of their campaigns. While nationally the familiar dynamic has led to some bitter primaries, both remaining Republican candidates have remained cordial in Oklahoma’s HD 35.
“I’ve known Mr. Travis since he was a kid. He used to haul a bunch of cattle for us. I’ve watched him grow up, and he is a good kid,” said Waters, a 54-year-old former Pawnee County sheriff. “The only difference I can think between me and him — and it’s not his fault — but it’s the fact he’s done nothing but agriculture, and he’s only 30-some years old, and I’ve done a little bit of everything pertaining to my priorities throughout HD 35.”
Asked why Republican primary voters should support him over his opponent, Travis also declined to speak negatively about his opponent. Instead, he focused on his own work ethic.
“I get asked that a lot: ‘Why should I vote for you over Mike?’” said Travis, a 33-year-old rancher. “I know that if you vote for me, I’m going to work hard at the end of the day.”
In December, Travis (30.4 percent) and Waters (21 percent) finished atop a five-person Republican primary. The Jan. 13 vote will determine the Republican nominee in the special election to replace former Rep. Ty Burns, who resigned in August after a swift plea deal involving three misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse and assault. Either Travis or Waters will advance to a Feb. 10 special general election against Democrat Luke Kruse, a Northern Oklahoma College faculty member whose campaign priorities include supporting public schools and improving rural water systems.
One year, two HD 35 elections?
Whoever wins the Feb. 10 special election for Oklahoma’s vacant HD 35 will be seated during the second week of the 2025 regular legislative session. But in April, candidate filing will occur for the normal 2026 cycle, which means voters could see a second HD 35 election in less than a year.
In interviews about their campaigns, both GOP candidates expressed support for increasing funding for rural infrastructure and police departments. Each also touched on more specific policy proposals, with Travis saying he’d support a ban on lab grown meat in Oklahoma.
“I’m in agriculture. I raise beef,” Travis said. “I have problems with lab grown meat for not only hurting our Oklahoma meat producers, but (because) we don’t know enough about it — if it’s safe.”
Waters that emphasized county governments need support from the state to fund social services for veterans and seniors.
“The county government and the smaller communities kind of get the shaft,” Waters said. “The main thing is how the rural communities are being treated by the government in House District 35.”
While Travis’ rhetoric focuses more on ranching and Waters’ focuses more on county government, both agreed that HD 35 needs of more funding for local roads, bridges, education and police departments.
House District 35 is centered on Pawnee County, but it also includes parts of Osage, Creek, Payne  and Noble counties. HD 35 represents communities like Cleveland, Hominy, Prue, Oilton, Lawrence Creek, Drumright, Glencoe, Morrison and Red Rock, as well as a square mile around Lakeside Golf Course on the north edge of Stillwater. HD 35 also covers parts of three federally recognized tribal nations: the Osage Nation, the Pawnee Nation and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians.
Travis, Waters each from multi-generational ranching families
Both Waters and Travis grew up ranching in rural Oklahoma.
“I’ll be honest, I was basically born with boots on my feet and a cattle sword and pole in my hand,” Waters said. “That was the family thing all the way back to my great-great grandpa.”
Waters was born and raised in Pawnee, where he graduated high school in 1989. After attending Northeastern Oklahoma College, Oklahoma State University and Tulsa Community College, he returned to the City of Pawnee and worked for their police department in 1994. The next year, he started with the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office. From 2011 through his retirement in early 2021, Waters served as Pawnee County’s sheriff, winning elections as a Democrat in an area now heavily Republican.
Travis grew up in Maramec and graduated from Cleveland High School before attending Connors State College. His father had a heart attack while he was in college, and he returned home to help run the family farm. Afterward, he started a chemical, seed and fertilizer supply company, Southern Plains AG-CO.
“In 2021, my father passed away from heart failure, so I said, ‘I’ll buy the family farm from his estate, and we’d just keep pushing on through,’” Travis said.
Travis and Waters’ fathers were both ranchers and friends, according to Waters, and both Travis and Waters have continued their families’ ranching operations. After discussing their family connections through the generations, Waters said he believed either candidate would represent the district’s farmers and ranchers well.
“I’ll be honest, as long as it’s between me and Dillon, if it’s one of us two that gets in, then I’m happy,” Waters said. “Whatever happens, District 35 is taken care of.”
Campaigning slowed for holiday season, Waters addresses party switch
While most Oklahomans gathered with loved ones for the holidays, the calendar for the HD 35 special election put pressure on all campaigning candidates to continue through the new year. As Kruse knocked doors near Keystone Lake, Travis’ campaign Facebook page remained active. Waters’ page, however, has been more reserved.
“Six parades, seven days!” Travis wrote in a Facebook post. “Our district has great people putting on great Christmas events for our small towns!”
During his interview, Waters said he had taken his children on short vacation amidst the runoff campaign following the death of his former father-in-law.
“My kids’ grandfather passed, and we had to deal with that, and then we went on a very short vacation,” Waters said. “It wasn’t planned.”
The dates of special elections are selected by the governor when a vacancy occurs in the Legislature. Gov. Kevin Stitt set the runoff campaign for HD 35 to coincide with the December holiday season in September. In a somewhat unusual move, Stitt set the special election for the HD 92 seat vacated Dec. 1 by former Rep. Forrest Bennett (D-OKC) to coincide with the 2026 general election calendar.
Asked about mailers sent out in the primary highlighting how Waters was elected sheriff as a member of the Democratic Party, Waters said his values have always been conservative, and he emphasized that he rarely agreed with the national party.
“The Democrats, man they’re so far out in left field it’s pathetic. We’ve got to worry about the people and our values,” Waters said. “Did I vote for Obama? Hell no! Did I vote for Biden? Hell no!”
At the time, Waters argued, Pawnee County was “blue” and that he had to register as a Democrat. He said he switched parties as soon as he left office.
“It wasn’t me being a Democrat, it was me being what everybody was in order for me to hold office,” Waters said. “Then, in 2021, I swapped. I was out of the sheriff’s (office), so now I could get out because I was not going to swap parties just to gain votes.”
Travis seemed to hint at Waters’ party switch in an Election Day post on Facebook.
“As your next state rep, I will fight every day for rural Oklahoma. I will fix our rural roads, protect our rural schools, tackle the drug crisis, and stand up for agriculture,” Travis wrote. “I’m a lifelong Republican, and I will fight for our conservative values.”
